Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to dental impression trays and more particularly to an inflatable dental impression tray and tips for use in mixing multi-part impression material.
2. Description of the Background Art
Numerous dental procedures require that accurate castings be made of dental surfaces, gums in the case of maxillary casts, or upon a patient presenting an edentulous situation. Traditional dental castings are made by applying one or more layers of liquid dental impression material to a retention shell called a tray. The liquid dental impression material is highly viscous and quick setting and typically applied as a gel or a mousse. The impression material generally is formed from two constituent components that react when mixed to facilitate quick setting. A dental impression tray loaded with the impression material is inserted in a patients mouth whereupon the mouth of the patient is closed upon the tray thereby holding it in that position until the impression material has sufficiently solidified, at which time the tray and dental impression are removed. Once removed from the patient""s mouth, the tray with the solidified material contains an impression of the dental surfaces.
Impression trays in current use are variously fabricated with typical trays being a molded synthetic plastic or resin; while metal trays are now largely an anachronism. These impression trays are typified as large xe2x80x9cU-shapedxe2x80x9d devices for taking a full arch impression which spans the entire dental area of the upper or lower jaw, or partial arch trays which are used for taking impressions over a smaller dental areas, such as a quadrant which spans either a left or right half of a full arch (LR, LL, UR, UL). In either case, these shell form trays generally contain some form of inner and outer rigid or semi-rigid sidewall between which the impression material is retained. The trays generally are constructed of sufficient size so that the positioning of the sidewalls accommodates a variety of bite pattern shapes. Due largely to this one size fits all approach, the trays typically require a large amount of impression material for proper loading. The impression material may be made from various materials, such as alginate, polyvinylsiloxanne, polyester, wax, silicon, or a rubber compound and these materials exhibit varying levels of viscosity.
Alternatively, a few tray manufacturers have provided anatomical sets of reusable bite trays having a variety of wall heights and spacing, so that a smaller tray may be chosen whose sidewall positions more accurately reflect the size, shape, and bite pattern of the patient. Yet, in either case, the sidewalls which retain the impression material within the tray can interfere with tissue/bony interfaces, or anomalies, which prevent proper insertion as they often do not properly match the shape of the patients mouth. Current dental techniques and devices uniformly teach the use of these shell-like trays into which a two-part impression material is applied before making the dental impression. Various dual-chamber syringes and tubes are used for the dispensing and mixing of the two parts of the impression material. In addition cybernetic mixing units such as Penta(trademark) by ESPE Mix and Mixstar(trademark) by DMG. The dental practitioner is required to rapidly load the area within the tray with unsolidified impression material, filling it between the inner and outer impression material retention sidewalls, before the impression material begins to solidify. The tray containing the impression material is inserted into the patients mouth, adjusted into position, and the patient is directed to bite down and hold their position, so as to get a good impression. Alternatively the operator may hold the tray in place which contains the solidifying impression material. Due to their size and construction, dental impression trays are expensive; therefore many impression trays are made to be reused. Unfortunately, the process of recycling a dental tray requires removal of all hardened impression material followed by sterilization, which is typically performed within an autoclave. The sterilized tray should then be protected from contamination until reuse. Disposable clam-shell trays have also been manufactured, however, their high unit cost has traditionally been a detractor. Furthermore, in utilizing either disposable or reusable trays, the dental practitioner is required to store an assortment of these trays under antiseptic conditions.
The drawbacks inherent in current tray designs have caused many in the industry to experiment with variations of these standard dental impression trays. Recently, trays have been introduced which include an injection nozzle so that an otherwise typical shell type impression tray can be filled more easily with impression material. The impression material is still retained as in a typical shell arrangement with rigid sidewalls utilized for retention of the impression material. Other tray varieties have been introduced including trays which contain a plastic or metal perimeter upon which a fabric material is suspended so that a layer of impression material may be built-up on the fabric. However, the principle drawbacks in the use of these practitioner-filled dental impression trays, with their rigid material retention sidewalls, still remains, and the practitioner is left with the choice of using expensive disposable trays, or spending a great deal of time to clean up and recycle used trays.
The task of finding a properly fitting tray with sidewalls compatible with the oral contours of the patient can be inconvenient for the dental practitioner and uncomfortable for the patient. While in addition, the large size of these generic trays requires the use of a substantial quantity of impression material. Furthermore, the practitioner must work quickly to fill all of the tray and to fit the tray properly within the patients mouth before the impression material begins to set. The impression material is formulated to generally provide enough working time to allow this process to be completed, however if filling is accomplished very quickly the patient is left gagging on a mouthful of overflowing aqueous impression material as they wait for the material to harden.
As can be seen, therefore, the development of a dental impression tray which is inexpensive, space efficient, and does not require rigid sidewalls to retain the impression material would overcome numerous drawbacks with impression trays currently in use. The inflatable impression tray in accordance with the present invention satisfies that need, as well as others, and overcomes deficiencies in previously known techniques.
The present invention is a dental impression tray which is inflated to achieve a desired level of rigidity and loaded with an unsolidified impression material into which dental structures are temporarily interposed during solidification. In one aspect of the invention, an inflatable impression tray containing flow apertures is filled with impression material which inflates the tray and flows out to build up on the surface into which dental surfaces may be interposed. Additional aspects provide for inflatable impression trays to which impression material is topically applied, self-inflating impression trays containing chemical reactants, and an impression material mixing tip for inflatable dental impression trays. Furthermore, in comparison with previous trays, the inflatable tray is substantially non-rigid until inflated with the impression material and does not contain the free-standing sidewalls of conventional shell-type trays.
An object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive method of making dental impressions.
Another object of the invention is to provide a disposable impression tray.
Another object of the invention is to provide a dental tray capable of being fit to a wide range of patients without sidewall interaction between the tray and the mouth of the patient.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system of making dental impressions that requires less impression material to be used per dental impression.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system of making dental impressions that eliminates the manual loading of the impression tray with impression material.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system of making dental impressions wherein the impression material is mixed as it enters the tray.
Another object of the invention is to provide a dental impression system in which the trays take up less space while being stored.
Another object of the invention is to provide an inflatable dental impression tray that is capable of being inflated with a liquid, or a gas, such as: impression material, air, water, or gas from a chemical reaction.
Another object of the invention is to provide a printable dental tray to facilitate identification and private labeling.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pleasant tasting and/or smelling dental tray for the recipient patient.
Another object of the invention is to provide impression trays in clear or colors to improve arch or quadrant identification, while preferable providing a location and mechanism by which the patients name may be adhered to the tray.
Another object of the invention is to provide a dental impression tray which is bondable by either mechanical or chemical adhesion to all dental impression materials.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tray capable of providing 3 to 50 microns of accuracy.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system of making dental impressions wherein due to the increased speed of material application, a quicker setting material formulation may be utilized to increase patient comfort and decrease the overall time required for the dental procedure.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be brought out in the following portions of the specification, wherein the detailed description is for the purpose of fully disclosing preferred embodiments of the invention without placing limitations thereon.